Do you think that sexism is still a problem in Ireland today? I ask because the most fundamental divide in society was once seen to be the man/woman divide.

Nowadays, a lot of the discussion around equality seems to have moved on to natives/immigrants and gays/straights and Black/White or whatever. Is there still a need to be vigilant towards casual, unconscious or deliberate sexism today in Ireland, do you think?

Absolutely sexism is still a problem!! Women still get paid less for doing the same jobs men do, they still are the ones most likely to be in poverty, they make up a fraction of the decision makers in this country, they still experience violence in great proportions, they still do most of the work in the home and they don't have reproductive rights! (I could go on and on).

This, however, doesn't mean that the existance of sexism means there is less racism, homophobia, etc. Racism has become more of an issue in an increasingly multicultural Ireland, for example.

Sexism?,with women i dont wanna have sex withem,but that dont make me sexist,im fierce in my defence of women and every other catagory of wierd people,i even love straights,90% of my friends are in that bracket,but iwouldnt judge them,i accept them,they are human after all,are they not?

Sexisim will always exist in our society, regardless of how we view and deal with it.I think that it is how we deal with it individualy that is important.Most societies are patriarchal and this is difficult to change,also a lot of women care about changing this view, so, sexisim will still occur.

Where are the examples of women being paid less than men? I don't know of any jobs that pay women less than men.

There was the recent case that decreed that a woman was not entitled to the same increment after a maternity leave, but that doesn't mean that her colleagues who did not have a baby wouldn't get the same rise as the man.

And when fathers have greater paternity rights (today an example of sexism against men???). then they can expect the same treatment in cases of prolonged absence.

I read a fantastic article by a great Northern Irish feminist whose name I cant remember at the moment. She wrote an excellent article on the patriacal designs of cities which opened by mind completely! As more and more women become architects, cities are going to transform in design radically! The bullring in Birmingham is a fantastic building based on the architects Versace handbag!